Five people remained in the living room.
Me, Sylphie, Norn, Aisha, and Roxy.
Oh, and Geiro the armadillo was happily sprawled in front of the fireplace, but he didn't really count.
Lillia was giving Zenith a bath.
She'd asked me beforehand if it was alright, and I'd nodded.
I wanted to get through this conversation without Lillia's help.
Norn hadn't returned to her room. She was still here.
But it must have been hard on her—she was still sniffling away.
She'd been close to Paul, so the pain would hit her harder than anyone.
"Alright. There's one last thing I need to say."
At that, the three of them settled back into their seats.
I glanced at Roxy.
She walked over to my side in silence without a word.
"......"
Sylphie's swollen belly made me hesitate about what I was about to say.
But I had a responsibility.
Roxy would be in the same position someday too.
If Sylphie said no, would Roxy end up having the child on her own?
That was essentially the promise, after all.
Of course, I intended to provide financial support regardless.
"I'd like to take Roxy here as my second wife."
"...Huh?"
The confused voice wasn't Sylphie's—it was Norn's.
She stood up and looked back and forth between me and Roxy.
As for Sylphie, she just stared blankly.
"Wh-what do you mean!?"
"Let me explain in order."
I told them what had happened on the Begaritt Continent.
How Paul had died and I'd fallen into the depths of despair.
How Roxy had saved me from that.
How it turned out that I had feelings for Roxy.
And how I wanted her to become a part of our family—someone I deeply respected.
"I never intended to betray Sylphie, but I ended up breaking my promise anyway. I'm sorry."
I dropped to my knees.
There was a carpet on the floor, but winter in the northern lands was cold, and the ground beneath was frigid.
I pressed my forehead deep against the floor.
"H-hey, Rudeus!?"
I heard Sylphie's panicked voice.
"I still love Sylphie. That hasn't changed. But I may have gotten Roxy pregnant. I have to take responsibility."
"Oh... yeah."
The more words I piled on, the cheaper they sounded.
But I meant every word.
I looked at Sylphie, and she wore a troubled expression.
She might be confused.
Can't blame her.
I'd said I loved her. Said I would come back.
And then I'd returned—beaten to a pulp.
Having lost my family and my left hand.
But I was alive, and I should've been grateful for that alone. Instead, here I was, announcing I was taking another woman as my wife.
If it were me, I'd scream and scream and scream, and tear that person apart.
But I said it anyway.
The words that would force my way through.
"Sylphie. I'm asking you to forgive me."
"As if there's anything to forgive!"
It was Norn.
It wasn't Sylphie who screamed—it was Norn.
She marched right up to me and grabbed me by the collar.
"Do you have any idea what Sylphie went through waiting for you!? Do you even know what she felt!?"
"......"
"Every single day—'I hope Rudeus is okay,' 'I want to see Rudeus,' 'Is Rudeus eating properly?'—she had that lonely look on her face the whole time! Do you understand that and still say what you're saying!?"
I didn't know.
I didn't know, but I could imagine it.
Sylphie's face as she waited for me.
Sylphie's lonely voice.
Sylphie sitting in a chair, legs dangling, looking bored and alone.
"I told myself it couldn't be helped that Dad couldn't be saved! You lost your left hand, it must have been that bad, so it couldn't be helped! I thought it would be wrong to blame you for that! But you had the composure to sleep with another woman and make her yours!?"
"No! I didn't have any composure! Roxy threw away her own feelings and helped me when I was at my lowest!"
"Sylphie would have helped you too if she'd been there! No question!"
Yeah. She's right.
Sylphie had saved me.
Sylphie was the one who cured my impotence.
But Roxy had saved me too.
Knowing full well that I loved someone else—and that I was someone who loved another person.
Bracing herself to be used and thrown away.
"Norn, you know how it is.
Locking yourself in your room, feeling like nothing works out,
that helpless feeling when you can't do anything about it on your own.
How can you treat the person who helped you then with contempt?"
"I know that! I'm grateful to you, Brother! But that's completely separate from this! Taking two wives—Lord Millis would never permit it!"
Ah.
Right. Norn was a follower of Millis.
No—religion had nothing to do with it.
I was about to do something wrong.
I was trying to force my way through and shove morality aside.
"And seriously, why is she so small!? She's barely any different from me!"
Norn glared at Roxy.
Roxy stared back with her usual expressionless face.
Roxy was a little taller, but the difference couldn't have been more than ten centimeters.
Roxy received that glare and, still expressionless, murmured softly.
"...I may be small, but I am an adult."
I had no idea what to say.
Her voice trembled, and you could almost sense the thoughts churning behind her words.
But depending on how you heard it, that could come off as a smart-aleck remark.
Norn exploded.
"An adult should know better than to be so shameless!"
"......"
"Waltzing in here like you own the place—don't you feel even a little bad about that!?"
"Norn, that's enough. It was me who decided to take Roxy as my wife. Roxy did nothing wrong. She tried to step back."
I pushed back against Norn in a firm tone.
But Norn didn't turn toward me—she kept pressing Roxy.
"Brother, please stay out of this! And if she was really going to step back, why didn't she go through with it!? In the end, she just gave in to your words!"
I briefly considered slapping Norn.
But needless to say, I had no right to do that.
If I hit Norn here, I felt like I'd truly become worthless.
"......"
Roxy was silent for a long time after Norn's outburst.
She kept her expressionless face, head bowed, staring at the floor.
Finally, she looked up and bowed her head to Norn.
"You're right. It was shameless of me. I'm sorry."
Roxy said that, stood up, and began shuffling toward the corner of the room.
She picked up her luggage, put on her hat, and started to leave quickly.
I couldn't stop her.
I knew they'd object.
I hadn't been naive enough to think they'd accept this easily.
But I'd still believed that if I explained, we could work something out.
I was wrong.
The situation right now.
The merciless words being hurled at Roxy.
She must feel like she was sitting on needles.
And that might continue for the rest of her life here.
Thinking about that, of course she wouldn't want to stay.
Even I felt like running away.
I couldn't stop her.
I couldn't hold her back.
I couldn't let Roxy leave like this—with the bitter taste of this still in her mouth.
That wasn't what I wanted.
She deserved to be happy.
I hadn't brought her here to feel like this.
I'd come here to make her happy.
Or wait—was that wrong?
Could I not make her happy?
No—think. What should I do?
How could I convince Norn?
Nothing came to mind.
Roxy was going to walk out.
I had to at least stop her.
Even if it meant punching Norn and being hated for it—
"Wait!"
The voice came from behind.
"Roxy, please wait!"
It was Sylphie.
She stood up, hurried over to Roxy, and grabbed her hand.
Roxy turned around, and her eyes were brimming with large tears.
"Why are you stopping her, Sylphie!?"
"Just let her go!"
"Norn, could you be quiet for a moment?"
"Huh?"
"You. You've been going too far this whole time. I haven't said a single word against this from the start."
The moment Sylphie said that, Norn froze mid-protest, completely struck speechless.
"Please, sit down."
Leaving the stunned Norn behind, Sylphie guided Roxy to the sofa and sat her down.
Roxy didn't resist. She sat down as she was told.
Sylphie sat right next to her.
"I was a bit confused at first, but... Roxy, you saved Rudeus, didn't you?"
Hearing that, Roxy nodded timidly.
"...Yes. But I had ulterior motives, so I don't intend to use that as an excuse."
"Yeah. Rudeus is pretty impressive, after all. If you said you had no ulterior motives, I'd actually find that hard to believe."
"......"
"If I were in your position, I probably would've done the same thing."
Sylphie smiled gently at Roxy.
Roxy's face was still tense.
Sylphie kept talking with a smile.
"...To be honest, I always thought it was only a matter of time."
"Matter of time for what?"
"Rudeus bringing home another woman."
Only a matter of time before Rudeus brought home another woman.
...Huh?
...Wait.
Had I not been trusted at all?
"Think about it—Rudeus is a pervert, right? So when he couldn't be with me, I figured he'd definitely end up sleeping with someone else. It was the same when we first got together. But Rudeus is the honest type, so if he did, he'd propose marriage. I never expected I'd be able to keep Rudeus all to myself forever."
I had things to say.
But it had actually happened.
I had no right to object.
"Honestly, if he were going to bring someone back, I thought it'd be Linia, or Pursena, or maybe Nanahoshi."
"I've never heard those names before, except for Nanahoshi."
"They're friends from Rudeus's school. They've all got big chests and are really sexy."
Nanahoshi wasn't particularly sexy, though.
No—none of that mattered right now.
"To be honest, the journey was brutal, and with Paul passing away, I'd completely forgotten about that possibility, so it caught me off guard... but I understand."
"Understand what?"
"Roxy, ever since you came to this house, you've been looking at Rudeus with this anxious expression. I kept wondering why. At first, I thought maybe you were nervous about telling us about Paul's death. But it was this, wasn't it?"
"......"
"Your eyes—they were the eyes of a girl in love."
A girl in love.
Hearing that, Roxy's face turned beet red.
"I'm sorry... for showing you something so unpleasant..."
Still flushed, Roxy bowed her head.
From a wife's perspective, seeing another woman gaze at her husband with love must be uncomfortable.
That thought was painfully obvious now.
But Sylphie shook her head.
"It wasn't unpleasant."
"...But still..."
"How should I put it..."
Sylphie tilted her head in thought for a moment, then nodded firmly.
"See, Rudeus always told me about you, Roxy."
"He did?"
"He said you were the only mage he truly respected. Before the displacement incident, after we were married—same thing every time."
"...I don't know what to say. I'm flattered."
"That made me a little jealous, actually. Whenever Rudeus talked about you, he had this really starry-eyed look."
"......"
"I just assumed that Roxy Migurdia must be some incredible mage—way out of my league."
"......"
"But when I actually met you, and realized you were just an ordinary girl that Rudeus happened to fall for, the jealousy disappeared. Because you're just like me."
With that, Sylphie took off Roxy's hat and patted her head.
Roxy kept looking at Sylphie, letting it happen, her head being gently stroked.
And then Sylphie said:
"Norn said what she said, but I welcome you."
Roxy's face filled with shock.
My jaw had dropped too.
I never imagined Sylphie would accept this so readily.
"Sylphiette... san."
"Just Sylphie is fine. Let's get along. Um, Roxy... chan?"
"Well, I'll be turning fifty this year, so 'chan' might be..."
"Oh, really. You're older than me... sorry. Now that you mention it, Rudeus told me, but seeing it in person is something else."
"I am small, after all."
"I'm not exactly big either."
Roxy and Sylphie looked at each other and burst out laughing together.
It was a handshake that carried a strange sense of solidarity.
Watching that, I let out a sigh of relief.
It's going to be okay.
That thought had been behind the unconscious sigh.
But Norn scowled when she saw me do it.
"...If Sylphie says it's fine, then I won't say anything more."
Norn still didn't look satisfied.
Her mouth was pressed into a thin line, and she glared at us with a discontented expression.
She probably thought less of me now.
But Sylphie gently softened the blow.
"Norn. Rudeus isn't Millis, so just let it go."
"But—"
"Paul had two wives too, you know."
"...Well, that's true."
"Norn. Would you say the same thing to Lillia?"
Norn's eyes went wide and she turned to look at Aisha, who was sitting beside her.
Aisha had been sitting there this whole time with a composed expression, silent throughout.
"Oh... sorry, Aisha."
"It's fine. I already know Norn speaks without thinking."
"...What's with that tone!?"
"Come on. What you said earlier wasn't your place to say. You kept going on about Sylphie this and Sylphie that, but really you were just pushing your own feelings on everyone."
"Wha—!"
Norn shot to her feet.
Seeing her clenched fists, I intervened.
"Aisha, that's enough."
"But, big bro—"
"I understand what Norn was trying to say. Honestly, it wouldn't have been unreasonable for Sylphie to react that way. I wasn't considering the other person's feelings, and I'm just as much to blame. You shouldn't be hard on Norn."
"Well, if you say so, big bro..."
"......"
Norn had a complicated expression on her face.
She didn't know what to say.
That was clear.
And then, as if she couldn't stand it anymore—
"I'm going to bed."
She started to leave the living room in a hurry.
But then, as if something suddenly came to mind, she stopped and looked at me.
And murmured:
"Um, Brother..."
"What is it?"
"Would you teach me swordsmanship sometime?"
For a moment, I didn't understand what she was asking.
Swordsmanship.
She meant Paul's sword, probably.
If I half-assed it as self-defense training, it could backfire and get her killed.
But this was that kind of world.
It was probably better to know swordsmanship.
Even a little strength was better than none.
The real question was whether I could be any good as a teacher.
"Are you sure you want me to teach you?"
"I haven't fully accepted what you did yet. But... I don't hate you."
"...Right."
She was asking if a half-baked teacher like me was enough.
But when she said she didn't hate me, I couldn't refuse.
"Sure. I'll make time after school."
"Please do."
With that, Norn went upstairs to her room.
"......"
Well, all's well that ends well, I suppose.
In the end, I hadn't done anything at all.
Sylphie's generosity had saved me.
"Hey, big bro,"
Aisha murmured at that moment.
"You look really pathetic right now."
I had nothing to counter with, so I just nodded.
---
After that, the three of us discussed what to do going forward.
What order we'd sleep in at night, how much affectionate time was okay.
Since the conversation included those intimate details, Aisha had excused herself.
"Well, Roxy, I look forward to working with you starting tomorrow."
"Yes, likewise."
Aisha grumbled as she left, but she seemed a little happy.
Not sure why.
Oh well.
Sylphie, Roxy, and me—the three of us discussed the future.
People might say, "What are you talking about after Paul just died?"
But it was precisely because of times like these that we needed something bright to talk about.
"Basically, please treat Sylphie as the primary wife. I'm fine with just getting some attention when you're free."
"No, we need to treat this equally."
"But—"
"There might be more in the future, so let's be bold about it, okay?"
More in the future.
That little phrase said a lot about how little faith Sylphie had in my lower half.
But this time, I swore it.
I would love only Sylphie and Roxy. Just the two of them.
This time, for real.
"Honestly, I feel really guilty toward Sylphie right now, so until the baby is born, I'll be on my best behavior."
"I see... the birth is about a month and a bit away, so until then, I'll have Rudeus all to myself. That okay with you?"
"That's fine. Then let's say I'll officially become your wife in one month."
"......"
If I felt a pang of disappointment about a month of abstinence at a time like this, that proved what kind of person I was.
But if I thought about how, a month from now, Sylphie would give birth and I'd be free to hold both of them as much as I wanted—then a month was nothing.
My son was already getting excited.
"......"
"......"
As I was indulging in that fantasy, I noticed both of them looking at me.
"Um, Rudeus. If you absolutely can't hold it in, just let me know, okay? I'll figure something out."
"No, I'll manage on my own."
Even I wouldn't cheat again in a situation like this.
Let it be known that Rudeus Greyrat does not make mistakes driven by sexual urges.
The reason things went the way they did with Roxy was because of those circumstances plus the fact that the other person was Roxy.
Unless I was that deep in despair and a woman of Roxy's caliber showed up again, there wouldn't be a problem.
I will not cheat again.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
"Oh, wait—Roxy, are you pregnant too?"
"If so, then once a month passes, you won't be able to anymore. What should we do?"
At Sylphie's words, Roxy looked apologetic.
"Um, about what Rudeus said earlier—I think he was lying. I couldn't find the right time to bring it up, but I'm not actually pregnant."
"...Huh?"
She's not.
Then what I said about not being able to—
"...Ah."
I'd been played by Elinalise.
That woman.
Damn it.
I felt like I'd been rolled around in the palm of her hand.
"What's wrong, Rudeus?"
"No—it wasn't a lie. I was just mistaken."
"I see."
Roxy scratched her cheek, blushed, and said:
"But... please, someday."
"Oh. Yes, of course."
Images of a cheerful family plan flashed through my mind, and I couldn't help but grin.
Ah, I really am looking forward to this.
"Rudeus, you really are a pervert, huh?"
"Yeah. I'm a pervert, Sylphie."
"I wonder what kind of things this perverted Rudeus will do to me."
Laughing about things like that, the three of us talked on.
And just like that, I gained my second wife.
---
Later, after Lillia and the others came back from the bath, I showed them to their rooms and we all went to bed.
As agreed, I slept with Sylphie tonight.
I cradled her with my right arm, and she lay on her side facing me.
Neither of us was asleep yet.
Our eyes met, and we lay there in silence.
"About what happened earlier..."
Sylphie was the first to speak.
"When Rudeus said he had something important to talk about, and Roxy was right there...
I had this really sad thought."
"What kind?"
"That maybe you'd say you couldn't love me anymore, and tell me to leave."
"I'd never say that. Something like that."
What kind of scumbag did she think I was?
"Yeah. I know."
Sylphie shifted around.
There was a sensation at the tip of my lost left hand.
She was stroking it.
"But... I still get anxious. Like, I'm scared Rudeus might disappear from my life."
Was it a premonition?
But thinking about it seriously, I had been in real danger this time.
It wouldn't have been strange if I'd died.
"Did I make you anxious?"
"Yeah."
"There, there."
I stroked Sylphie's head with my right hand.
She narrowed her eyes and accepted it.
Looking at her, I noticed her hair had grown quite long without me realizing.
Beautiful white hair.
Maybe soon it would be long enough for a ponytail.
"Your hair's gotten long."
"Rudeus, you said you liked long hair."
"You did that for me?"
"Yeah."
She's so cute...
She'd waited all this time, and here I'd gone and—
"Sorry, Sylphie. I betrayed you, didn't I?"
"It's okay. I love even that Rudeus."
"But honestly, if the roles were reversed and you did the same to me, I'd cry pathetically and scream, 'How could you betray me like that!' I'm sure of it."
"Mm-hmm... I would never do that. I don't even see anyone other than Rudeus."
Sylphie said that, leaned in, and planted a kiss on my cheek.
An overwhelming wave of love swelled up inside me.
I would love Sylphie for the rest of my life.
Even though she must have been anxious, even though she must have wanted to scream, she'd accepted everything I did without a single complaint.
"Sylphie."
"Hehe."
I kissed her back.
Against her soft, squishy cheek.
"......"
Normally, this would be where things escalated.
But tonight, we stopped here.
I couldn't be rough with Sylphie in her condition.
Just then, I felt something fuzzy brush against my lower abdomen.
"Oh, come on, Sylphie. If you touch me there, I won't be able to hold back. I'm into pregnant play, but..."
"Ah, no, Rudeus. It's not good for the baby..."
"Hm?"
"Eh?"
Glancing down, beside Sylphie's large belly, there was another sizeable mound.
I lifted the blanket.
There, underneath—
"Geiro..."
The giant armadillo had snuck its head up between us from under the bed.
It had wedged its head right into the space between us.
When had it gotten in here?
I hadn't noticed a thing.
"Sticking your face into someone's crotch like that—you're quite the pervert."
"Just like Rudeus."
"No, I—... whatever. Let's let you sleep with us tonight."
"Yeah, let's do that."
I got up, grabbed another blanket, and made a bed for Geiro.
Once the armadillo was settled on it, it slowly closed its eyes.
It looked like an armadillo, but it felt more like having a large dog around.
I'd need to build a proper shelter for it at some point.
Keeping it indoors was fine, but dealing with the droppings would be a pain.
Maybe if I trained it, like a dog...
Well, that was something the whole family could discuss later.
"Alright. Let's sleep."
I started to slide in on Sylphie's right side, then stopped.
I went in on her left instead, and held her hand with my right.
Sylphie squeezed my right hand back, hard.
"Goodnight, Sylphie."
"Goodnight. Good work today, Rudeus."
And then I slept like the dead.